Suggestions, Comments, and Complaints

Ivel Medical Centre is always looking for ways to improve the services it offers to patients. To do this effectively, we need to know what you think about the services you receive. Tell us what we do best, where we don’t meet your expectations, and any ideas and suggestions you may have. Only by listening to you can we continue to build and improve upon the services we offer.

Tell Us About Your Service

  • Could you easily get through on the telephone?
  • Did you get an appointment with the practitioner you wanted to see?
  • Were you seen within 20 minutes of your scheduled appointment time?
  • Were our staff helpful and courteous?

Practice Complaints Procedure

If you have a complaint about the service you have received from any member of staff working in this practice, please let us know. The practice operates a Complaints Procedure as part of the NHS system for dealing with complaints. Our complaints system meets national criteria.

Note: If you make a complaint, it is practice policy to ensure you are not discriminated against or subjected to any negative effect on your care, treatment, or support.

How To Complain

In the first instance, please discuss your complaint with the staff member concerned. Where the issue cannot be resolved at this stage, please contact our Business Manager, who will try to resolve the issue and offer you further advice on the complaint procedure. If your problem cannot be resolved at this stage and you wish to make a formal complaint, please let us know as soon as possible, ideally within a matter of days. This will enable the practice to get a clear picture of the circumstances surrounding the complaint.

If it is not possible to raise your complaint immediately, please provide details within the following timescales:

  • Within 6 months of the incident that caused the problem

Or

  • Within 6 months of discovering that you have a problem, provided this is within 12 months

The practice will acknowledge your complaint within two working days and aim to have looked into your complaint within 28 working days of the date you raised it with us. At this stage, you should be offered an explanation or a meeting with the person(s) involved. When the practice looks into your complaint, it aims to:

  • Ascertain the full circumstances of the complaint
  • Make arrangements for you to discuss the problem with those concerned, if you would like this
  • Make sure you receive an apology, where this is appropriate
  • Identify what the practice can do to make sure the problem does not happen again

Complaining On Behalf of Someone Else

Please note that Ivel Medical Centre strictly follows the rules of medical confidentiality. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, the practice needs to know that you have their permission to do so. A note signed by the person concerned will be required, unless they are incapable of providing this due to illness or disability.

Complaining to Other Authorities

The practice management team hopes that if you have a problem, you will use the Practice Complaints Procedure. However, if you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us, or you are dissatisfied with the response received from us, you can contact any of the following bodies:

Patient Advice & Liaison Service (PALS)

PALS provides a confidential service designed to help patients get the most from the NHS. PALS can tell you more about the NHS complaints procedure and may be able to help you resolve your complaint informally.

Your local PALS office can be contacted on: 01582 700 164

NHS Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board (NHSBLMKICB)

Care Quality Commission

If you have a genuine concern about a staff member or regulated activity carried on by this Practice, you can contact the Care Quality Commission on 03000 616161, or visit their website: http://www.cqc.org.uk

Independent Complaints and Advocacy Service (ICAS)

ICAS is a national service that supports people who want to make a complaint about their NHS care or treatment.

Your local ICAS service can be contacted on: 0300 456 2370

Ombudsman

As a last resort, if you are not happy with the response from this practice, you can refer your complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman who investigates complaints about the NHS in England.

You can call the Ombudsman’s Complaints Helpline on 0345 015 4033, visit www.ombudsman.org.uk, or use Textphone (Minicom): 0300 061 4298